Best of 2022: Gabrielle Gurley

Our senior editor gives her picks for her favorite stories of the year.

by

Did 2022 shake up American priorities? In some ways, yes. A new big-city mayor arrived on the scene set to battle with shibboleths. Voters stepped up to slap down “expert” assumptions about abortion rights, inflation, threats to democracy, and more. Midterm contests like the Maine governor’s race were blowouts. But the look back is also grim. The Georgia Senate race was too close for comfort, a dismal commentary on race relations. More kids died in preventable school shootings as Congress ferreted out incremental gun control and called it progress. People everywhere played down drought, stronger storms, and receding waterways. The challenges pile up with few satisfying resolutions in sight as we turn the page to another year.

Here are some of my favorite pieces from 2022:

  • Boston Mayor Michelle Wu means to tear down the old ways of doing business in the Hub’s troubled housing sector.
  • Drought is the climate scourge that most Southerners ignore.
  • Congress serves up the legislative equivalent of thoughts and prayers on school shootings.
  • African Americans are never American enough.

I’m writing to you today with a sense of urgency that I haven’t felt since I began my journalism career. As executive editor of The American Prospect, I’ve witnessed firsthand how independent journalism serves as a crucial bulwark against the erosion of our democratic institutions. Today, that role is more vital than ever. Can you step up today and show your support?

The winds of authoritarianism are blowing stronger. We’re seeing alarming signs of a coordinated effort to silence critical voices and undermine the very foundations that support progressive causes. As Bob Kuttner presciently wrote in our August 2024 issue, a weaponized IRS could attack the very foundations of the progressive movement. We need readers to step up and help us dig in for the long haul.

We’re falling behind in our spring fundraising campaign, and with so much at stake we can’t afford to come up short. If you value fearless, independent journalism that holds the powerful accountable and defends democracy, now is the time to step up. The American Prospect depends on reader support to stay in the fight. Pitch in today and help us close the gap. Please consider making a donation today.

–David Dayen, Executive Editor